Still doing her job
» Hammon keeps coaching despite being quarantined.
Sunday’s game with the Timberwolves marked the third one Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon has missed since entering the NBA’S COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
That’s three games too many for Spurs forward Demar Derozan.
“It’s a big loss,” Derozan said. “The chemistry we have with Becky makes it a lot lighter compared to Pop (Spurs coach Gregg Popovich). Having her around is definitely fun. Just talking to her, hearing her break down plays, defenses, just hearing her from the sideline — you definitely miss that.”
Fortunately for the Spurs, Hammon continues to fulfill many of her coaching duties from Los Angeles, where she is quarantined along with reserve big man Drew Eubanks and an unnamed staffer.
“We’ve been in contact with Becky,” Popovich said in a Zoom conference from Minneapolis. “She’s able to do everything. She just can’t be here.”
The protocol process can last up to 14 days. The Spurs announced before last Thursday’s game against the Lakers in Los Angeles that Eubanks and two other members of their travel party would not be at the Staples Center that night due to the health and safety protocols.
Popovich confirmed before Saturday’s game against the Timberwolves that Hammon was going through the protocols. Citing legal reasons, a Spurs spokesman declined to reveal whether the three have tested
positive for COVID-19 or if they are quarantined as a precaution because of contact tracing.
From the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the Spurs have strictly adhered to all of the league’s health and safety guidelines.
“We are doing everything possible,” Popovich said. “There is not much more we can do.”
But without offering specifics, Spurs guard Patty Mills said the team is indeed taking extra precautions now that three of their own are going through the protocols.
“There is no question we have been really good and taking all the appropriate measures and some,” Mills said. “But after all that, we are going to extra lengths now. It is one of those sacrifices we are going to have to continue to make — not to put ourselves in that position that we obviously see around the league.”
The NBA postponed a game on Sunday between the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat after the Heat informed the league they did not have enough available players because of the
health and safety protocols.
It was the second game of the season postponed after a team was left short-handed because of the protocols.
As of late Sunday afternoon, 22 players across the league were listed as out for their team’s next game due to either the health and safety protocols or self isolation, the Dallas Morning News reported.
That number, along with the two postponed games and a large number of injuries, left some observers wondering if the league had plans to shut down for a couple of weeks.
But the NBA will soldier on — at least for now.
“We anticipated there would be game postponements this season and planned this season accordingly,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass told ESPN.COM. “There are no plans to pause the season. We will continue to be guided by our medical experts and our health and safety protocols.”
At 71, Popovich is the league’s oldest coach. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the risk for severe illness with COVID-19 increases with age. In Texas, more than 70 percent of COVID-19 deaths have occurred in people 65 and older, according to the Department of State Health Services.
The state is currently vaccinating Texans in groups 1A or 1B, which includes those ages 65 and older.
Popovich said he has not been vaccinated.
Weatherspoon could return soon
Second-year guard Quinndary Weatherspoon is on track to return for possible game action soon, Popovich said.
“He’s been working hard for a while now,” Popovich said of the second-year guard who has been rehabbing after offseason knee surgery. “I think probably in the next week or two he will be ready to go.”
Popovich said Weatherspoon is currently doing three-on-three work.